First National Bank of Hutchinson Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

First National Bank of Hutchinson acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,227 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $761,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evolve Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 59.0% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,531,000. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 82,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,082,000. Finally, Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 223,211 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $45,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials gained attention after reports of a 10-year AI packaging partnership with TSMC, reinforcing its role in the AI supply chain. Applied Materials (AMAT) Lands 10 Year TSMC AI Packaging Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators remain upbeat on AMAT’s AI demand outlook, with Bernstein rating the stock a Buy and Stifel-style bullish commentary saying the company should benefit from a long AI investment cycle. Applied Materials (AMAT) Gets a Buy from Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials was included in lists of AI beneficiaries poised to produce strong cash flow and capitalize on heavy semiconductor infrastructure spending. The AI Boom Isn’t Over: 3 Stocks to Buy for 2H 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Market headlines also noted Morgan Stanley kept an Equal Weight rating on AMAT, which is supportive but not a strong bullish signal. Morgan Stanley Maintains an “Equal Weight” Rating on Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier trading saw AMAT fall with the broader chip sector after weakness in Asian semiconductor names and an oil-price spike pressured tech stocks. Intel, AMD, and Applied Materials Drop 4% as SK Hynix Rout and Oil Spike Hit Chip Stocks

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. HC Wainwright set a $850.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $589.48.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $595.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $525.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $407.88. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $154.46 and a one year high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $472.96 billion, a PE ratio of 55.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy M. Deane sold 8,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.76, for a total transaction of $5,092,941.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 134,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,534,609.56. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 71,727 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.75, for a total transaction of $42,587,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,695,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,503,625. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and other advanced materials. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company designs and sells capital equipment and related technologies that enable production of integrated circuits, display panels and materials used across the electronics supply chain.

Applied Materials’ offerings include process equipment and factory software that support critical steps in device fabrication, such as deposition, etch, implantation, inspection and metrology, as well as systems for packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration.